Cacaughany of Silence
by Shay-Monyou
Summary: Dirty" "Filthy." For eight Years she had been running trying to find her place until she can run no more, "She's so wild.. she doesn't even speak..!" incidentally in the one place she has a chance to be accepted. "Don't worry, We'll look after you.."
1. Running

Panting echoed around her as she fought for every breath, she had no idea how long she had been running for, it seemed all of her long 8 years of life, whether it be from frightened humans or disgusted yokai, there had always been someone chasing her. Right this moment and for the last three days it had been a gang of snake and centipede yokai and now she was reaching the ends of her reserves...

* * *

It was the day that had been too long in coming and InuYasha was eager to get to the bone eaters well to retrieve Kagome, _'that girl is always late and she always has some excuse or another..' _he thought restlessly before stopping short in his tracks and lifting his nose to the air.

"What is it InuYasha? It's not like you to be stopped on your way to get lady Kagome like this.." the monk Miroku smiled a little uneasily. Shippo, the young Fox demon looked around at the half demon's behaviour curiously from Miroku's shoulder.

"Something's not right..." he replied, loud enough to catch Miroku's attention before sniffing at the air again. "Demons." Without another word InuYasha had changed direction and was running towards the scent of the foreign yokai, leaving Miroku with Shippo to catch up.

* * *

The girl had collapsed now having finally reached the ends of her strength to continue and will to force herself, this was how it was meant to be, she kept thinking before a familiar burning through her veins washed over her to convince her otherwise. Her eyes turned to crimson before her pupils came through with an icy blue, her fangs and claws grew longer and she growled low in her chest as she pushed herself up off the ground to turn and face her attackers, a defiant, almost eager scowl spread itself across her face as it was framed by the moonlight silver of her hair.

"Oh no little halfbreed has finally reached her limits!" cackled one of the snake demons as he took a step forward, "We'd best be careful or she'll rip our kneecaps to shreds!" this earned a roar of laughter from the group behind him and an added "she lost her ears last time she tried.. what will she lose this time?" which only served to enrage the girls now feral form.

InuYasha stopped short of the clearing and hid behind a stand of trees, hearing the last comment his eyes widened at the caked blood on the girl's head, on first glance he thought it was a bandanna or something but now he could feel a familiar stirring in his heart, he motioned for Miroku and Shippo to be silent as they came up to him wanting to ask what was going on. "This is gonna get very ugly, very quickly.." he said simply as he returned his gaze to the conflict ahead of them. No sooner than those words slipped through his mouth, the girl launched herself at the snake demon in front of her, she managed to get to his chest and bite down before she was ripped off and tossed into the waiting group of demons. What followed were sounds akin to a dogfight, biting, clawing and snarling as the group of demons worked to torture the small being in their midst while she fought tooth and claw for her life, InuYasha had had enough by now and stepped through the trees, letting loose a wind scar that barely scraped past the group of demons, but obliterated the one that had stepped forward.

"Hey! Waddaya think you're doing in my forest?" InuYasha called out to the stunned demons, who had paused in their ministrations to look for the source of the attack.

"Well well... if it isn't another halfbreed.. seems they get more common the further south you go.." a centipede said with a rattling voice, "Must be something in the waters here.."

"Keh, What are you on about vermin.. I asked you a question, now what are you doing here besides making a nuisance of yourselves?" InuYasha shouldered his Tessaiga and waited irritably for a response to his question.

"We were simply AARRGH!!" the demon's coy excuse was cut short by the girl leaping free of the group tht surrounded her, lashing out with her claws as she did so and slicing trough the flesh of two of the remaining five demons, including the one who was speaking. She landed between them and InuYasha, casting the briefest of glances at him before she took off at her full demon speed through the trees, leaving a slightly confused hanyou and enraged group of demons in her wake.

InuYasha didn't want to waste any more time with these small-fry demons and lifted his sword for another attack, the wind scar effectively disintegrating the group of demons that remained. "Well that was a waste of time.." he huffed, sheathing the Tessaiga and turning to look at Miroku and Shippo, "Come on, we've wasted enough time on this little side trip.." he said with a frown and started off towards the well...

* * *

AN: It's a little disjointed I know.. sorry...

This is the second versin of this particular story that has been rattling inside my head for a while now... first version was lost due to a recycle bin and system restore accident.. it was rough, but it was sadly better than this version.. though it didn't get much farther than what this is here..

I thought I had better submit this and see how people like it before I chickened out again haha, Tell me what you think of it, I'll probably still continue it even if no one likes it... I have to get it out of my head.


	2. The Well

InuYasha, Miroku and Shippo had just entered the clearing that held the bone eaters well when a scream pierced the calm and serene atmosphere. "KAGOME!!" the hanyou shouted and bounded for the well, dropping into it's depths and gathering the girl from the future up in his arms before leaping back out and away from the well, setting Kagome down on the ground and quickly checking her over. After realising that she wasn't hurt in any way he swiftly replaced his gruff exterior and huffed, "Whatcha screaming for kagome!?" he shouted, clamping down on his ears as though they were in pain.

It took Kagome a few seconds to gain her breath and wits before she answered, "There was something in the well.. it growled when I went to try and climb out!" she said with a shaky voice as Miroku and Shippo arrived at their sides and InuYasha stood and sniffed the air carefully.

"Kagome are you okay?" Shippo asked, jumping down from Miroku's shoulder and landing in her lap softly.

Kagome nodded and smiled reassuringly at the young fox demon and gave him a hug, "I'm fine.. just startled a bit I think.." she said looking back at the well.

"Startled?!... I hate to hear you scream when you're really scared.." InuYasha mumbled earning a quick glare from Kagome, she was about to 'sit' him but he stopped her with his hand over her mouth, "Do you want me to go see what the hell 'startled' you or would you rather leave it until you have to go home again? Personally it makes no difference to me.. if it's still in there when you wanna go back you'll hafta stay.."

Kagome frowned but took a deep breath and held it a second, long enough to make InuYasha nervous she was going to shout it through his hand, but let it out in a long sigh. She closed her eyes and nodded once before InuYasha tentatively let her free. "Go check it out please.. It's demonic, I know that much.. and if we leave it it may go for the village.." she said hesitantly, reminding herself to 'sit' him later when it was safe.

"Fine, I'll go check it out.. Miroku keep watch, it may be from before.." Miroku nodded his response and stood before Kagome as InuYasha leapt back into the well.

InuYasha touched down on the soft dirt of the floor of the well and was promptly hit in the stomach, eliciting a low growl from his chest, A growl that was quickly answered..

_**Stay back, Stay away**_

InuYasha stepped away from the growls and came into contact with the opposite wall of the well before he growled again, he sniffed the air trying to identify what had attacked him and his senses were assaulted by the stink of sweat, tears and blood, both fresh and old. He reeled for a moment before a thought occured to him and he pulled out Tessaiga, allowing it to transform before he stabbed it into the dirt.

_**It.. smell from before? **_he struggled to articulate his question in this base form of communication, without the body language to accompany it he was only able to use half of the vocabulary. However he heard sniffing coming from the corner as the other being in the well scented the air again.

_**You kill demons! Stay back! No hurt!**_ the growls were being tainted with a whimper as the other being tried it's hardest to shrink into the corner of the well, _**Stay back, Me leave, No Hurt! **_

InuYasha heard the scrabbling and stepped around the Tessaiga slowly and knelt down on his knees.

_**Me no hurt.. relax.. **_he gave a gentle growl and ended with a soft yip, his ears set attentively forward as he leant down slightly and scented the air again, this time more carefully as he analysed the situation._** You girl from forest, ran and hide here..**_

_**Always run.. Always hide... **_the statement was fearful, InuYasha could smell it before the whimpering finished her statement.._** Always hated.. Always hurt..**_

The statement echoed around the well in it's primal form and a pained whine made it's way through InuYasha's throat as his ears lay flat,_** I know. **_

The girl looked up at his face then, really taking her time to look at it and she could see the pain in his eyes as he sat there. Without another word she slowly made her way over to him and sat just in front of his knees before laying herself down on the ground, letting herself roll back slightly to expose vulnerable flesh of her stomach,_** you no hurt?**_

InuYasha smiled sadly to himself and shook his head in answer, memories of his own past being reluctantly dredged up from where he had buried them in his mind as he lay a hand on the girls stomach while the other teased the dirty, blood caked hair on her head, causing the girl to close her eyes against the tears that had formed as she leaned into the gentle stroking._** I protect **_came his simple promise before the light in the well became darker than it was before.

"InuYasha?"

Damn did the girl have no sensible bone in her body? InuYasha thought to himself as the girl at his hands started at the foreign sound. "It's fine Kagome, just gimme some time.." his impatient voice rang up to the group gathered at the lip of the well.

"We heard growling and whimpering.. is everything okay?"

"Everything is fine Miroku, I'm dealing with it!" he could hear himself losing patience but forced himself to stay calm, he didn't want to undo everything he had just achieved. He yipped softly again, _**Relax, I protect.**_ he let his hands drop slightly as the girl watched him for any hint of a lie.

_**You protect. **_She repeated before slipping from his reach, only to return to his outstretched hands and clamber into his lap, still wary of the people at the surface. _**They no hurt?**_ she said looking up into the blurred outlines of the others in the sun.

_**They no hurt..**_ InuYasha assured with a smiled yip that the girl was becoming more trusting with each passing moment, _**They pack. My Pack. Friends.**_ the words were obviously unfamiliar to the girl who had frowned at his last statements so he reverted back to what she understood, _**They no hurt.**_ he said, wrapping an arm gently around the girl while he stood and groped around for Tessaiga, Sheathing it once he had found it and securing the girl with both hands.

"I'm coming up guys, stay back from me when I get up there got it?" he called before turning his attention back to the girl, _**Close eyes, hold tight.**_ waiting until he felt the girls grip tighten on his robe he jumped out of the well and landed lightly before walking towards the shade of the tree. He could feel the others' eyes on his back and turned his head over his shoulder, "You guys comin' or what?" he called as he headed for a small clearing he knew near the stream that ran through the village and forest.

Kagome, Miroku and Shippo all exchanged glances with each other, silently asking if the others had seen it too. "Isn't that the girl from before Miroku?" Shippo finally asked, causing Kagome to tilt her head questioningly.

"It appears InuYasha's assumptions were right in this instance that the threat was from a previous encounter.." Miroku nodded

"Wait.. so the thing that scared me half to death was a little girl you guys had run into on the way to get me?" Kagome asked quietly, "Well I guess that explains why you guys were late in getting there.."

Up ahead InuYasha's ears flicked, "I wouldn't be late in coming to get you if you didn't leave in the first place.." he said gruffly, "What was so important this time?"

"I had a test!" Kagome called back heatedly, fisting her hands by her sides.

"Oh yeah? How did you go this time, any better than the last one?" InuYasha smirked.

"Why, you.. SI--" the word was cut short as Miroku dived to cover her mouth before it finished.

"Lady Kagome, May I remind you that InuYasha, while he was admittidly asking for that 'sit' is carrying a small child and that you may want to refrain from his punishment until such a time that no one else will be hurt in the process?" Miroku quickly explained himself and sighed in relief when Kagome reluctantly nodded her head.

InuYasha smiled to himself careful not to let Kagome see it. _**That was close..**_ he yipped tilting one ear back towards the rest of the group and sighing slightly in relief. The girl merely looked at him strangely to which he replied, _**You'll see..**_ _**but first.. you clean! **_ he said nodding ahead to the stream.


	3. The Stream

The girl looked dubiously into the water and smelled it delicately, smiling slightly at the clean, crisp smell of the clear running water. She looked at InuYasha and a small frown flashed across her face as she looked at his ears sitting atop his head. He noted the staring and turned them forward to her before dropping one in a confused manner silently asking _**What's wrong?**_

The girl in his arms looked down and reached up to what was left of her ears with one hand as she gripped the Fire Rat robe with the other and whimpered, _**Why..? **_

InuYasha's ears dropped at the sound and the question was left open, but he understood completely and held the girl tighter, cradling her head against his chest. He had to take a breath to try squash the memories down again before they manifested themselves in the forefront of his mind and he noticed a low rumbling sound, it was new, alien to him but it served to soothe both himself and the girl, after a few moments of listening to it he realised it was coming from him. His growled reply was slow, calculated, he knew why but had never had to really explain it to anyone. _**Others just... don't understand..**_ he sighed, lowering his head to hers and listening to the rumble from his chest.

Kagome and Miroku had sat down under the trees near the stream and looked out to their Hanyou friend and his interactions between he and the girl. "He looks... kinda sad" Kagome said quietly as she watched his ears drop.

"Indeed he does.." Miroku said in a low tone, folding is arms thoughtfully, "It may be because he sees a lot of himself in her.." he sighed when she gave him a confused expression and realized that Kagome had not seen the girl properly. "She is also a Hanyou.. earlier today we came across a group of demons who were attacking a small girl.. the girl ran away and apparently went to hide in the well which is where you found her.. She had turned full demon in the fight with the demons which would explain the demonic aura you felt in the well.. It appears that InuYasha has been able to calm her down."

"Ironic that he's the one calming someone else down for a change.." Shippo quipped earning a small smile from Kagome and Miroku because they knew how odd it was for InuYasha to be trying to calm someone else down when he often let his own aggrivation show.

Kagome watched a little longer before she spoke again, "maybe we should head back to the village, he seems to have things under control here and he said that he didn't want us too close.." Miroku nodded before standing up, the jingling of his staff catching the attention of the two Hanyous.

"InuYasha, We're going to head back to the village, perhaps we can find some clean clothes for her to wear when you get back." Miroku called out and got a small nod from InuYasha.

"We shouldn't be too long.. Be careful." he said looking pointedly at Kagome who seemed not to notice the slight at her expense as she walked away toward the village with Shippo in her arms, Miroku nodded his aknowledgement before turning to follow them, leaving InuYasha and the child alone.

_**Where they go?**_ the girl yipped quietly looking over her shoulder.

_**Back to village. More friends there. **_ InuYasha smiled slightly as he looked at the girl in his arms. _**Come, get clean.**_ he said, walking over to a nearby rock and setting the girl down gently before he removed his Fire rat robe and the underlying kimono, leaving him in just his pants and rosary. he waited for the girl to strip what was left of her clothing before leading her back to the water's edge and stepping in, smiling to himself when the girl squealed as her feet entered the cool water.

_**Feels good!**_ she yipped excitedly, the smile back on her face as she let go of InuYasha's hand to wade out further, letting the water move about her and feeling her weight lift with it. She was allowed to splash around a bit before InuYasha gathered her up again before he sat in the shallow water with her in his lap and began to wash her.

InuYasha frowned slightly at the extent of the injuries the girl had sustained, noting many cuts and bruises over her body from various violent encounters, he rubbed over a particularly tender spot on her rib causing her to yelp in pain. Quickly whimpering an apology he took even more care over the area until he was happy that all the dirt and grime had been washed off her before moving onto her hair.

He got her to dip her head under the water to get her hair wet before he started massaging around her ears gently to loosen the dry blood and dirt that had collected there. He felt her tense up slightly and found himself rumbling in his chest again, he really must figure out conciously how to do that.. the rumbling worked and the girl relaxed again as he managed to get all of the offending substances out of her hair with another quick dipping. His shoulders slumped slightly as he looked over her ears, _**It hurts?**_ he asked with a gentle stroke of the stub on the right, making her shiver with a slight whimper, all the answer he needed. _**I need to clean, will hurt but then will start to get better.**_ he waited for her nod before wetting his hands and rubbing the ear stubs gently with his forefingers and thumbs, careful of his claws as he worked off the scabbing. Every now and again he would dip his hands again into the water to rinse off what he had dislodged and eventually he was left with pink flesh, free of dirt. he smiled when he saw that the skin was healing itself and held hope that the ears woud grow back completely.

_**Thankyou... **_the girl yipped quietly, fighting off a yawn but failing miserably. the pain had indeed subsided and InuYasha's gentle massaging had made her sleepy.

InuYasha smiled and growled a gentle response, _**Sleep, pup.. regain your strength.. **_he stood with her cradled in his arms and carried her back to the rock before swathing her in the robe of the fire rat before he pulled on the white kimono he wore under it and tucked it into his pants as a thought occured to him, neither of them knew the other's name.__

_**My name InuYasha..What yours?**_

_**Name? **_the girl's quizzical look set InuYasha on edge Surely someone would have named her... right?

_**What you called? **_He held his breath though something in his heart new the answer that was coming.

She looked down seemingly in deep thought on the matter, she had heard the others calling InuYasha by his name but struggled to understand what it was.. now she knew it was his name she looked back up and answered easily. _**They call me Hanyou.**_


	4. The Hut

InuYasha carried the sleepy Hanyou girl back to the village in silence. To say that he was shocked about the girls violent past would be a lie, he had expected as much when he realised that she was a 'half-breed' and assumed that her life would be much the same as his own was before meeting Kikyo all those years ago. No, what surprised him was that there was _no one_ who had seemed to care about the child throughout her entire life! Not even a mother! His heart sank thinking back to all the times where he had sought the comfort of his mother's arms and how this child had missed out on that much needed comfort.

He held her closer,causing her to stir slightly in the sleep she had fallen into whilst he was lost in his musings. Her small fist gripped tighter to his haori and she brought her head to lay over his heart, the steady beat assuring her of her safety in this person's care, he'd protect her. InuYasha took a deep breath to clear his head and noted the scent of citrus fruits and vanilla. It was an unusual mix and he hadn't noticed it before but son realised that it was the girl's unique scent, which had been masked by the scent of old blood and dirt. He smiled to himself as he commited the unusually pleasant scent to memory.

As InuYasha crested the last hill to Kaede's hut where they often stayed between trips, he noticed that the rumbling in his chest had begun again. It annoyed him slightly because he didn't know where exactly it was coming from because he had _certainly_ not done it before, however it contented him at the same time knowing that it calmed the girl down as well.

It was late when he finally pushed aside the mat that acted as a door to Kaede's hut only to assaulted by the curious gazes from everyone around the fire and the smell of a stew Kaede had been preparing for dinner. Ignoring the gazes for now he went to his usual corner by the door and sat down, the girl securely held in his lap.

Kagome looked over at the hanyou pair with a questioning glance and while she didn't know the silent language Inu 'spoke' with, InuYasha had learned to read Kagome's body language fairly well and decided to answer her question. "She'll heal.." he said in a low voice, "The injuries have all started to heal a little faster now that she's resting.. I don't think she's ever had a decent amount of sleep unless she had passed out.."

Kagome covered her mouth in horror at the news but was glad that the girl was healing only time would tell if the girl would be alright mentally. "Does she have any family?" she found herself asking, instantly regretting it at the look of hurt on her hanyou friend's face.

"No.." it was almost a growl but he contained it, "No one's ever been there for her from what she's told me.." he made a fist at his side to try and stop the trembling that was taking over his body as he fought to keep calm. "I asked if she had a name.." he growled this time as he bit the statement out.

Kagome waited for the rest and scooted closer when he didn't finish what his statement was. "What did she say?"

it took some moments for InuYasha to calm himself enough to answer without waking the child up, "She didn't know what a name was.. So I asked what se was called.."

Kagome had that same daunting feeling InuYasha had had when he asked, in her relatively short experience in this era, there apparently was nothing worse than a half breed.

"'They call me Hanyou' were her exact words." InuYasha growled a little too loudly and the girl stirred from her sleep, looking around the unfamiliar surroundings and faces and starting to panic.

_**Where?**_ It was a threatening growl and she bared her fangs and lay what was left of her ears against her skull as she looked at all the shocked faces staring back at her, why did they have to stare like that?.

InuYasha gently pushed Kagome back slightly, "Stay back she feels threatened.." he warned before looking down _**Relax, safe**_ he yipped quickly, reaching up with one hand to rest on the girl's head lightly as he gently scratched along the base of one of her ears. _**Pack, safe.. **_he assured at her unsure expression. He noticed that a pink tinge was leaving her eyes,_ 'that was close..'_

_**Safe? **_she whimpered shooting glances over her shoulder at InuYasha, not willing to leave her back exposed for fear of being attacked by the others.

_**They no hurt remember?**_ InuYasha pressed, slinking his arm around the girl's waist to secure her and leaned down so his head was nearly resting on her shoulder and used his free hand to point to each of them in turn, "Kagome, Kaede, Miroku, Sango, Shippo and Kirara.."

Each of the other people caught on to what was going on and waved with a smile as each of their names were said, serving to only slightly ease the girl's tension.

Sango watched the girl warily, she didn't miss the change in her eyes and was not about to let her guard down just yet, even though it seemed that InuYasha had her under control. "It seems that she is not used to this sort of contact with humans.." she stated with a level voice.

"Of course not!" Came InuYasha's harsh reply, "She's a half demon like me, you've seen how people in other villages react when I walk around.."

"This is true.." Miroku cut in to try and diffuse any situation that may have been building, he had been watching the girl as well and saw that she was getting anxious again, "InuYasha perhaps you should calm yourself.. she seems to be getting upset again.."

"If you'd all quit staring at her she'd be fine.. I know I don't particularly like it when someone is staring at me.." InuYasha huffed, turning his head away from the others as he did so.

A silence washed through the hut at his words but was cut by a small bark, yip and growl combo from the girl, which caused InuYasha to look down at her surprised as she buried her face in his haori. _**Don't be angry. I leave if they want.**_

"We ain't gonna make you leave.." came his soft reply and the rumble started again in his chest _'dammit what the hell is happening to me?'_

"She thought we were going to make her leave?" Shippo asked from beside Kagome.

"She was going to leave if you guys wanted her to..." he said looking up at them, a gasp was heard around the hut which certainly didn't help his mood terribly.

"InuYasha your face!" Kagome said in a hushed voice as she dove into her bag and grabbed out a small mirror for him to see.

Taking the mirror InuYasha couldn't help the sharp intake of breath he made when he saw the two jagged magenta streaks adorning his face. They hadn't completely shown through yet and he could now nderstand the other's nervousness. "But I feel fine! I don't get it!" he said checking the mirror again as he said so. To everyone's surprise, the Rumbling became louder, allowing everyone in the hut to hear it, and as the sound grew, so did the prominance of the markings. The only one who didn't seem alarmed by this was the hanyou girl on on the other hand was smiling contentedly.


	5. The Flea

After the events in the hut and the appearance of his demon markings, InuYasha was watched constantly for any signs that he was losing control, but as soon as the chest rumble had ceased, the markings had dissappeared until the girl was agitated again, which called forth the rumble and with it the markings. InuYasha to be quite honest was a little wierded out himself and was grateful that Kagome at least was able to keep the facade of normality in place, he just wished that Miroku Sango and Shippo woud do the same and quit staring at him as though he was going to explode.

It continued for about two weeks and while the girl was slowly, ever so slowly becoming used to the other people in the travelling group, she still preferred to stick with InuYasha, either being carried on his back or walking alongside him and trying to match his strides with her own. On the sixteenth day of the girl's company and the constant checks on InuYasha's sanity they were surprised by a visit from Myoga. The miniscule flea demon announcing his arrival with the obligatory sucking of InuYasha's blood, and the consequential smackdown as he was slapped from his master's cheek.

"Master InuYasha your blood is as tasty as ever!"

"Myoga what are you up to now?" InuYasha growled, since everytime Myoga turned up he was either running from someone or was going to 'help' InuYasha with his mastery of the Tessaiga.

"What? Is an old flea not permitted a visit to his master every now and then?" Myoga said indignantly, folding his four small arms across his chest. InuYasha only glared at him, prompting the flea to confess. "Alright alright.." the diminutive demon sighed, "I stopped in at Keade's hut to see where you had gone to in search for the jewel shards this time and she informed me that you had aquired another member to the group.. another Hanyou.."

At the word 'Hanyou' the girl's ears twitched and she turned her head in InuYasha's direction. _**Someone call me?**_ she yipped curiously, her ears turned forward to try and catch the source of the voice she had heard.

InuYasha sighed and shook his head with a smile, _**Don't worry it's nothing.. go play with Shippo.**_

The girl looked confused for a moment but shrugged her shoulders before running ahead to where Miroku, Sango and Kagome were walking before she jumped up and tagged Shippo, who was riding in Kagome's bicycle basket, with a happy series of yips and giggles as she took off a bit ahead of the group. Shippo was left stunned for a moment before he realised he was 'it' and jumped down from Miroku's shoulder to give chase.

"What a delightful child!" Myoga crowed, watching the children chase each other across the road and back again. "She reminds me so much of you when you were young Master InuYasha.." he murmered, getting a distant look in his eyes as he remembered times past.

InuYasha glared at the flea, just waiting for him to start blabbing about one embarrassing moment in his life or another... he knew there were a few when he was small but endeavoured not to remember them. But he was surprised when Myoga snapped out of his reverie and turned to look at him seriously.

"She has no family I take it.."

"No.. she sort of stumbled across our path about two weeks ago.. scared the hell out of Kagome in the well.." he added with a smirk, "She's had a tough life... I don't even know how old she is... she could be as old as 50 as far as I know... she doesn't know time, or how many winters she's seen and she only speaks in inu!" InuYasha sighed and ran a clawed hand through his hair.

"Perhaps I can be of some assistance then?" Myoga mused, which only earned him a sceptical look from InuYasha. "I am a flea of many talents and one of them just happens to be blood sampling.. Just one taste and I can tell you her age and where she came from.."

"Keh, I'll believe that when I see it.." InuYasha muttered, but called the girl back over with a quick bark.

All of the games of tag ended with her being 'it' it seemed, whether it be because she was becoming uncomfortable or was called back to InuYasha, but that was no matter to her, it just meant that she could restart the game at any time she wanted. She ran back to InuYasha and panted slightly, holding a hand up to grasp his Kimono sleeve but was surprised when she was lifted off the ground and into his arm. She looked at him curiously before something bit her neck, in a small panic, she clawed the offending insect away from her, which sent Myoga crashing to the ground.

"That was a dumb move Myoga.." InuYasha said as the rumble returned yet again to calm the fretting child. "She's not used to any of that.."

"My apologies Master InuYasha.." the flea said as he pushed himself off the ground and jumped onto InuYasha's shoulder opposide to the arm that was holding the child. "But the smell was so delicious and sweet it just.."

"Myoga..." InuYasha growled, Knowing that the flea was now just looking for an excuse.

"Right.. well.. I can say with definate certainty that she is not 50.. In fact she has barely seen eight winters.. I can also detect that she was born in the northern territories, but I cannot say as to where exactly.. I never spent too much time north.. it was too cold for this old flea.."

As Myoga was talking the girls eyes landed on him and watched intently with ears forward to determine that this was where the voice was coming from before she 'spoke' _**Friend?**_ she asked, testing the word on her tongue

InuYasha nodded, _**My whole life. He says sorry for biting you..**_ he offered, glaring at the flea momentarily before catching the look of shock on Myoga's face, _Great.. so he's seen the markings as well.._ he thought to himself. _Maybe he'll be able to tell me what's going on then.._

The girl smiled and yipped her greeting, introducing herself as 'Hanyou' which made InuYasha's heart ache. Introductions completed she asked if she could go and play again, at which point InuYasha let her jump down and run after Shippo again... make that, Shippo's copy, the young fox was getting cleverer in these games.

As soon as she was smiling, the rumble had stopped and the markings dissappeared, Myoga noted with curiosity. "Well, it has been a long time since I have seen that..." he muttered under his breath, knowing full well that InuYasha would hear him anyway he chose to continue without the violent prompt, "Your father used to do that when Lord Sesshomaru was a pup.."

This earned a rather shocked look from InuYasha, who had never really thought of Sesshomaru _ever_ being a pup. "Are you serious?"


	6. Hani

The group settled in a small clearing while Myoga told tale how a disgruntled young Sesshomaru would come to his father seeking comfort and guidance and how Inu no Taisho would rumble in his chest to calm the young youkai, explaining that it was a natural thing to do for all Inu youkai.

"But I'm not a full demon so why is it happening to me?" InuYasha asked slightly exasperated, while he knew tht Myoga had his suspicions as to why it was happening, the old flea didn't have to beat around the bush about it.

"I believe, that Master InuYasha's Youkai blood is answering the girls need for comfort in the way that it knows... taking the initiative to take over just enough to make the calming noise but still leave him with his own conciousness." Myoga hypothesised but the theory made sense. the Rumble only occurred when the girl was distressed and dissappeared as soon as she was put at ease.

Kagome thought on this for a moment while she watched the subject of their conversation tackle Shippo to the ground only to have him poof out her arms, another copy.. "But Myoga.. if it's InuYasha's demon blood taking over, wouldn't Tessaiga react and try and quell it?"

Myoga nodded, "I had thought on this possibility also but remember that Tessaiga's purpose is to keep Master InuYasha's demon blood in check.. It seems in this situation that his Father's blood doesn't want to take over completely but only serve to provide comfort, therefore Tessaiga has not had to intervene.."

"Makes sense I guess.." InuYasha said with a slight shrug as he felt a spike of demonic aura from the girl and let out a warning growl, _**Calm down, come..**_ he called out with a short bark, prompting the girl to look over with pink tinged eyes before they faded slightly and she made her way over to him, apparently the game had become more of a string of practical jokes played on her rather than a game of tag.

As soon as the girl had reached him she had nudged her head under his chin in a silent apology for letting her anger get the better of her and InuYasha's rumble came to everyone's ears, The markings appearing to accompany them.

"Almost exactly how I remember it.." Myoga sighed, before jumping over to Kagome's shoulder. "Master InuYasha shares Inu no Taisho's markings almost perfectly.. It's like seeing the Great Dog General all over again.." he lamented.

"InuYasha has the same markings as his father?" Kagome asked astounded, "Sesshomaru's markings are so different though.."

"Lord Sesshomaru takes his markings more from his mother than his father.. it's the way with most Inu youkai that the offspring take more of their mother's appearance than their fathers, and the same holds true for Master InuYasha, he has more of his mother's appearance than his fathers, and his father shines through in his demon blood when it is awakened."

"I see... that makes sense I suppose.." Kagome mused as she watched the pair of Inu hanyou sitting across from her before she sighed.

"Whatever is the matter Kagome?" Myoga asked, catching the attention of Sango and Miroku as well.

"I was just thinking.." she sighed in reply looking at the girl wrapped in Inuyasha's arms, "What should we call her?"

The group fell silent as the thought sank in, after learning what she had been called her entire life nobody wanted to continue calling her such a degrading name, but all had failed to find a new name for her.

"Kagome is usually good at that stuff!" Shippo chirped from his place between Kagome and Sango.

Kagome looked a little shocked but smiled down at the young Kitsune, "Thanks Shippo.. I have been trying to think of something suitable for a while now but nothing seems to work for her.."

"You'll find something.." The voice surprised everyone in the clearing and they all looked at InuYasha. "I know you will.." he finished, looking at Kagome with a soft determination burning in his eyes.

Kagome only nodded with a smile in response, to have InuYasha's trust on the matter made her feel unusually warm and fuzzy on the inside. She soon shook herself free of the stunned silence she had been struck into and smiled, "Who's up for some lunch?"

Halfway through the preparations for lunch kagome's voice rang out through the clearing grabbing everyone's attention in an instant. "Hani!"

The girl's head snapped around from her game with Shippo, who had been told to behave himself, and stared at Kagome with wide eyes before she looked at InuYashawith a little uncertainty, _**Was I called then?**_

InuYasha beckoned the girl over as he walked over to Kagome, who was smiling a wide victorious smile. "Care to explain?" he asked, narrowing his eyes only slightly before Kagome's smile made him falter.

"Her name.. or rather a nickname!" Kagome smiled, before realising that she'd have to explain the concept of a nickname, "A shortened version of what she already beleives is her name.. Hanyou, Hani.. Hani means 'Sweet child' or 'Cheerful and happy'!"

The girl smiled up at Kagome's smile and asked, _**Why is she so happy?**_

InuYasha blinked between the girl and Kagome before crouching down and looking at the girl, taking in her scent as he did so, the sweetness of vanilla hit his senses first and was chased by a pleasant Citrus smell and he nodded, _**We know what to call you... Hani..**_ The response was an immediate yapping of an excited half demon girl.

Kagome worried her hands and looked at the pair, "What do you think InuYasha?"

InuYasha stood then and looked at Kagome with a small smirk, "Don't worry yourself so much, Kagome.. She likes it!"

to Kagome's surprise, she felt two small arms wrap themselves around her knees as the girl hugged them, the wetness of tears did not go unnoticed as Kagome bent down to hug the young hanyou properley. "Thank you Hani.."

Small whimpers escaped the girl as she buried her face into Kagome's shoulder, _**No more running, accepted... home...**_

InuYasha bent down next to Kagome and smiled, resting a hand on Hani's head gently, _**Safe, we protect.**_ He seemed to swell with what could only be described as pride as Hani accepted the close contact from Kagome where she would normally be very standoffish, Kagome had accepted Hani without question just as she had him a couple of years ago and he wondered if there was a limit to Kagome's kindness. Before he knew it he was growling.. but it wasn't a growl of malice or threat.. this growl was special, this growl was content, and he smiled for it.


	7. Herbs and Healing

AN: Sorry it's taken so long guys! but as I had said before this is a time filler for me and well my time has been taken up by other things... such is life I suppose...

As the weeks passed, Hani started to warm up to the other members of the group, however her favorite person was still easily InuYasha. He was the only one she could readily communicate with, however she was beginnning to learn how to communicate with the others with a crude sign language and the few words of their spoken language that she had learned with InuYasha and Kagome's help.

The said pair were currently on the other side of the well, Kagome went to restock on supplies before they headed out for another search for the jewel shards and InuYasha had gone to make sure that she didn't take too long. This left Hani in the company of the others, and while she and Shippo had been drawing with the crayons that Kagome had brought from her own time, Hani soon became bored with it and left shippo with a small yip of assurance that she was alright.

As she walked out of the hut, she tugged down on her kimono to straighten it and pulled up her hakamas, since she was still a rather wild child by nature and needed the freedom of movement and it was decided that she wear hakamas and a long kimono that was split up both sides to the hip to give her that movement, much to her appreciation if the excited yipping was anything to go by at the time. Kagome had also tried to get shoes on her at one stage but Hani had promptly ripped them off, much to the amusement of InuYasha. So like the elder Hanyou she walked, ran and played barefoot.

Instead of finding the monk and slayer as she had intended, Hani stumbled upon Kaede in the fields, picking various herbs for different remedies. Still relatively cautious around the old Miko, Hani slowed her pace as she approached Kaede carefully, sniffing at the scents carried on the breeze. She was startled when Kaede spoke to her over her shoulder.

"So much like InuYasha ye are.. Trying to take me by surprise were ye?" she asked with an easy smile as Hani came around in front of her with a shake of her head, sending her hair cascading in ripples around her shoulders. "Then what brings ye out here child? I thought ye were with Shippo?"

Hani took a deep breath as the breeze picked up and played with her hair, tugging the moon-silver strands this way and that before she finally sat cross legged in the grass across from Kaede and gave a small shrug before faking a yawn her honey-amber eyes watching the old priestess carefully as her ears turned forward at attention.

"I see... While Shippo can stay in one place for some time, ye easily become bored and need to move around and enjoy the outdoors, am I right?"

Hani nodded firmly, casting a glance over the basket of plants Kaede had next to her before she scooted closer, pointing to the herb collection with one hand and putting the other hand behind her ear.

"Ye wish to hear what they are all called?" The old Miko smiled at the girl as she nodded once. "Alright then.."

Several hours later the sun was setting and Kaede looked over at the girl who had come to keep her company for what had turned out to be most of the day before she stood with a small grunt, making Hani turn to look at her with a hint of concern. "It's nothing Child... Just age catching up to me.." Kaede said holding her hip with one hand as Hani grabbed thelarge and now heavy basket of herbs and fell into step beside the old Miko as they made their way back to the village, just in time for InuYasha's shouting to be heard coming from the hut.

Hani's ears lay to her skull as the shouting became more agitated and Shippo's protests reached her ears and she let out a small howl. Almost immediately she heard Shippo hit the ground and InuYasha push through the reed mat at the entrance to the hut.

InuYasha had come back to the hut with Kagome to find that Shippo was still colouring and drawing but Hani had dissappeared, when he questioned the young fox as to the whereabouts of the girl and didn't get an answer he liked he was getting a little worried about her, but was taking it out on Shippo. Until the howl caught his attention, Dropping the kit on his head and heading outside, relief had flooded through him as he caught sight of Hani with Kaede.

Kagome exited the hut with a teary eyed Shippo in her arms and glared at the back of InuYasha's head before shouting, "SIT BOY!"

InuYasha fought the subjugation but inevitably ended up face first in the dirt, making Hani whimper along with him as she watched him attempt to fight off the spell.

Kagome's scowl lessened after checking that Shippo was alright and looking over at the pair of Hanyou, one struggling to get up from the subjugation spell and the other crouching down over him trying to help him up, the basket of herbs all but forgotten beside them.

"Not his fault.." Hani said, testing the phrase she had heard many times from Kagome over her own tongue as she tugged on InuYasha's hand. "I needed to run... fresh air!" she smiled at the shocked expression the elder Hanyou was giving her before it turned into a playful smirk.

"Oh going to start taking _her_ side now are you?" he growled and lunged for Hani, breaking free of the spell and scooping her up in one arm and tickling her with his free hand, laughter bubbled up from her chest at the onslaught.

Watching the display, Kagome couldn't help but laugh to herself at how open InuYasha had become in the past few weeks. Before Hani he hardly ever genuinely smiled and _never_ laughed like this. _'it's like he's a completely different person'_ she mused _'I might bring it up with him at some point... then again, if it's not broken...' _She shook her head, that was the point, InuYasha _was_ broken in the past and Kagome herself had been the cause for most of the healing, but being from another era, she could only understand half of what needed to be understood about the interactions between humans, youkai and hanyou... '_No what he needed was someone who understands what it is to be hanyou completely, so they can heal each other..'_


	8. Wolf Encounter and Authors note

A/N: chapters are becoming harder and harder to turn out.. and for that I apologize.. I'm terrible with motivation. However I feel I haven't been able to write this as well as I had first envisioned it due to very little editing and basically letting the filter between brain and hands switch off just to get the general gist of the story down before i forgot it... depending on how we go in the next few chapters... if i can get through them... I may be taking the story down and starting over... fleshing it out and not rushing it as much as I have been... maybe even using prompts to entice the muse into working up some inspiration for me...

Anyways, thanks for your tolerance! On with the show!

One day out from Edo, under the midday sun, Kagome suddenly and quite obviously stiffened in her tracks, InuYasha soon following suit as he scented the cause of Kagome's behavior on the breeze, A low growl of warning escaping his chest as he spun and ran to the side of the road, pulling Kagome behind him as Kouga's telltale whirlwind burst through the trees.

Hani had scented him too and noticed InuYasha and Kagome's reactions to his approach.. making her feel incredibly uneasy and causing her youkai blood to start bubbling it's way to the surface in defence.

Kouga was about to grasp Kagome's hand after ducking around InuYasha until a feral snarl ripped through the air and claws struck out at his hand. He looked down and saw what appeared to be a smaller version of InuYasha, Baring it's fangs and brandishing it's claws at him, all the while the gutteral, feral growling bubbled from it's chest as eyes flashed red and markings pulsed to life on the small face.

_**Leave Mama alone...**_ came the snarling warning, actually making Kouga back up a few steps in shock before looking down at the marks on his hand and then back at the cause of them

"M..Mama?" he shounded shocked, looking between Kagome, InuYasha and the barely contained child as she stood at InuYasha's side, grabbing a fistful of his Hakamas and trying to breathe deeply.

InuYasha nearly fell over laughing at the expression Kouga was wearing, "You look pretty stupid there ya mangy wolf.. never had a kid stand up to you befrore have you? Well... not a hanyou kid anyway.." he added, smiling pointedly at Shippo remembering the stories that Kagome had told him of their first encounter with the wolf demon tribe.

Kouga looked at InuYasha with a dumbfounded expression before finally regaining his composure. "Damn mutt.. What are you playing at?"

Hani growled louder, twin sicle markings becoming a nearly fully present attribute to her skin as they pulsed darker and darker at the outside edge of her eyes.

InuYasha looked down at Hani, laying one hand on her head and stroking a clawtip behind one flattened ear as he lowered himself onto his haunches. He was a little shocked himself at how close she really was to losing herself to her youkai blood and perhaps just a little envious of her control thus far. "Hani.." he said in low tones so kouga couldn't hear, however she ignored him and merely glared at Kouga harder, InuYasha growled deep in his throat, demanding that she listen to him.

Hani reluctantly pried her eyes away from Kouga and towards InuYasha, _**I don't like him..**_ she growled simply, InuYasha smiled at that, happy to have someone share his view on Kouga before she continued in a louder growl, not really caring if the arrogant and presumtuous wolf heard or not. _**makes mama and papa nervous...**_

InuYasha would have fallen over in shock if it weren't for the fact that Hani was so on edge and needed to be talked down. _**Its okay, Pup... I won't let him touch mama.. **_he growled, trying to soothe her unease before turning to Kouga, "You'd better not touch Kagome, ya flea bitten wolf.." Kouga was about to retort with one of his spiels about Kagome being his woman but InuYasha cut him off, "Hani has been alone her entire life, no one has taught her about control and I think her youkai blood is the only reason she's alive today... Kagome is the closest thing she's ever had to a mother and you're trying to take that away from her.. her blood has awakened to your threat.. So if you intend to keep all of your limbs intact I suggest you move away from Kagome right now.

Able to see the child's markings come to full existance, Kouga wisely stepped back and sat himself down on a rock so he wouldn't fall down in shock. _'Mama and Papa.. there's no way that.. No.. Dogbreath has already said that Kagome is the _closest thing _she's had to a mother... but where did she come from?'_ he came out of his troubled musings when InuYasha growled again, demanding the attention of the child again.

_**He's a baka for trying but he is a persistant baka... if he tries it he's gonna get beaten. Calm down, pup. **_InuYasha's eyes were locked on to Hani's and she instinctively dropped her gaze to avoid a challenge, making InuYasha smile to himself as he stood up, looking over at Kouga with a smirk as he felt Hani's aura diminish back down to some semblance of normal.

Kagome watched the whole event with wide eyes, Kouga had been taken completely by surprise by Hani and frankly so had she. Possessiveness and protection really did run deep in the blood of inus! "Kouga.. was there any reason for your visit today?" she finally said, raising her gaze from the back of Hani's head, where InuYasha's hand still rested, to Kouga on the rock, "Because if there isn't it's probaby a good idea for you to leave so that Hani can settle down."

Kouga stood and brushed himself off, glancing between InuYasha and Hani before looking at Kagome, "It was nothing really.. Just wanted to check in on you." he said with a casual wave, dismissing the still frowning pair of Hanyous. "I'll give it some time before I come again, and don't worry mutt, I won't sneak up on you next time.." he called over his shouder as he turned to leave, the whirlwind kicking up from his feet and dissappearing back in the direction he came from.

"Well... that was relatively painless..." Shippo stated in awe as he watched Kouga leave from Miroku's shoulder.

"Indeed, though it could have easily gone bad had Kouga insisted on getting closer to Kagome.." Miroku mused, he could also feel Hani's demonic energy building to dangerous levels before InuYasha calmed her down.

"Damn wolf.." InuYasha's grumbling broke through everyone's thoughts at that moment, "There's no way we're going to travel far with Hani wound up like this..." he sighed and looked around them, seeming to be listening for something, "There it is.. come on, there's a stream over this way, well make camp for the night and set out again in the morning.."

AN: Okay i've decided after three weeks of fighting this chapter that I WILL be redoing the entire story.. PACING myself... i'll leave this story up for you guys though and if anyone has any suggestions to a title for the revamped story feel free to drop me a line!


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